Council at Jerusalem -- A Message for May 25, 2025

 

In the season of Easter, we are focusing on key events in the early Christian church. Over the past few weeks, we have focused on the work of the first Deacons appointed by the Apostle’s. As the church grew, it became apparent that the leadership needed to make important decisions on behalf of the body of Christ. This morning, we will read about an important decision that was made and the process the leadership undertook to make the decision.

Let us turn to the scriptures and read the word of God. Our focus text is the Acts of the Apostles Chapter fifteen verses one through eighteen: 

Scripture Lesson Acts 15:1-18

Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” 

This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. 

The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. 

When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.

Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”

The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 

After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 

God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 

He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 

Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? 

No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 

When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. 

Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. 

The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: 

“‘After this I will return
    and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
    and I will restore it,

that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
    even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’—
    things known from long ago.

“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 

“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 

Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 

For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

Here ends this reading of the Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen

Let us pray….

Sermon Council At Jerusalem

When I was a teenager, my family travelled to French Polynesia. My mother had wanted to visit since the movie of the musical South Pacific came out – the whole family got to accompany her on one of her Bucket LIst trips. We definitely felt like we were in a foreign country – everyone spoke French, we were on a tropical island with volcanos and jungles, my siblings and I encountered the biggest bug of my life in our room. My mother had done a lot of research, so we went to museums and beaches and tried local delicacies like breadfruit and taro root. On the weekend of our visit, we went to worship at the local Protestant Church.

The Protestants in Tahiti mostly attend churches that were started by missionaries from the London Missionary Society. The London Missionary Society was interdenominational, but the majority of the pastors and supporters of its work were Congregationalists. Apparently, Congregationalist churches in the early 1800s all over the world were built in the same style – so, although we were worshipping in a Foreign Country on the other side of the world, the church we worshipped in looked like it could have been plucked straight from Connecticut or Wales. I have seen formerly Congregational UCC churches in New England that looked almost exactly like the church we were in.

At the time, I thought this was strange.  We were in a foreign country but the church building was not foreign looking at all….why would churches look the same in England and Pennsylvania and Tahiti? Does it make sense to have churches look the same no matter where they are located and no matter what the weather or terrain is at their location?

Sometimes Christians have trouble with change.  And, sometimes Christians want to replicate what is familiar and comfortable no matter where we happen to be.

In our scripture this morning, we study one of the earliest occasions when Christians were having trouble with change – and how they resolved the conflict that ensued has come down to us through the centuries.

The first Christians were Jewish. Jesus was Jewish. Initially, the people who embraced Christianity were all Jewish. But, the message they shared – that God loves us and has delivered us from our sins and wants all of us to love each other and get along – that message was for everyone, not just Jewish people. So, gradually, people who weren’t initially Jewish began to join the Christian community.

But, there were some problems. The people who were the very first Christians were Jewish, devoutely Jewish. They practiced the tenants of Judaism…..they followed the Torah laws concerning dietary practices and animal husbandry and cleaning and marriage. They were Jewish and they added Christian practices to their Jewish religious practices…. But, when Gentiles started to become Christian, the people were unsure if the Gentiles needed to embrace all of the Jewish practices as well as the Christian practices. Could they be Christian without being Jewish as well?

The major stumbling block for Gentiles was whether they needed to be circumcised or not. And, in the days before antibiotics and anesthesia and sterilized surgical theaters, this was a big deal. Most men are careful with the more delicate parts of their body, and this concerned the most delicate part of all.

So, after much debate, the Apostles came to an agreement. The Gentiles did not need to be circumcised to become Christian. They just needed to follow a few dietary restrictions and abstain from sexual immorality. The high bar to entry was lowered. The Christians didn’t need to do everything faithful Jewish people were required to do as well as everything Christianity required.

This decision of the early church impacts us today. One of the things ministers joke with each other about is that some churches get caught up in the problem of “We have never done it that way before…” and its converse …  “We have always done it this way and we aren’t open to change.” Some churches get stuck in the past and have trouble navigating new realities.  If someone suggests singing a new song or adding different instruments to support the worship service or painting the sanctuary a different color a huge argument occurs.

This morning, we didn’t park our horse and buggy in the stable next to the sanctuary building and we aren’t worshipping in the German language and your pastor happens to be a woman. So, Trinity has successfully made many changes in our almost 200 years as a congregation. We are part of a tradition that is able and willing to make changes that are sensible and timely while continuing to hold true to the truth of Christianity.  Some parts of our faith are timeless and unchanging…. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life…. And we are commanded to: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.: and to ’ ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’....The core truths of our faith are essential and unchanging, but many of the other things we do as Christians are flexible…..we can change our style of worship….we can sing new hymns…we can worship in our sanctuary or in our fellowship hall or in our parking lot or at the park….we can sit alongside Christians of every ethnic background and every age and every type of profession. An often-quoted line from 17th century by Marco Antonio de Dominis sums it well: in essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, and in all things charity.  

The earliest Christians were able to work together to make changes for the future of their community, changes for the better. They decided that Christians didn’t have to continue to practice Jewish laws and traditions when they joined the church and became followers of the way of Jesus. The first Chrsitians were open to the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit. Their openness in the first century reminds us Christians in the twenty-first century that we are also called to listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and consoles us that sometimes, we are called to make faithful changes so that more and more people can experience the love of God and the love of the Community of Faith both in Skippack and in all the places God leads us.

May we work to be attentive to the guidance of the Holy Spirits in our community and in our hearts. Amen. 

 Taylor PA

Moorea

Wales

Ethiopian Eunuch Baptized -- A Message for May 11, 2025

 

Friends, in this season after Easter, we are focusing on stories from the early church….the church has always emphasized spreading the message of Jesus. This morning we focus on a story from the early church when an unexpected person became one of the earliest converts to Christianity.

You may recall, last week we read the story of how the Apostles appointed the first seven Deacons of the church. The Deacons were faithful believers who were appointed to administer the resources of the church among the members. Stephen, the Deacon we focused on last Sunday, was the first martyr of the Christian church. This Sunday, we focus on another Deacon: Philip. 

After Stephen’s death, many Christians moved out of Jerusalem for their safety. Philip ministered to Christians who lived in Samaria. 

Listen now to the word of God as read part of PHilip’s story as it is written in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 8, verses twenty-six through thirty-nine:

Scripture Lesson Acts 8:26-39

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 

27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[a] eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship,

28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 

29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.

33 

In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
    Who can speak of his descendants?
    For his life was taken from the earth.”[b]

34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 

35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”

 [37] [c] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 

39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God, thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us pray…

Sermon Ethiopian Eunuch Baptized

Unfortunately, the writer of the Acts of the Apostles did not tell us the name of the man from Ethiopia….we know where he lived. We know he was an important member of staff for the Queen of Ethiopia. We know he was in charge of her treasury, so he was good with numbers and good with money. We know he was a religious man – he travelled all the way to Jerusalem to worship God. And, we know his status as a Eunuch – he was a sexual minority. But, we don’t know his name. 

In the ancient world, men were castrated for various reasons.  Sometimes, men were castrated to punish them. But, they often were castrated because they had specialized roles in the government – Ethiopia was ruled by a Queen. Male servants and government officials surrounded her. They were castrated and made into eunuchs so they would not be perceived as a threat to the queen. 

The laws of Israel were rigid. Castrated men were not allowed to worship in the Temple. The man from Ethiopia came to Jerusaelm to worship at the Temple, but we don’t know how he was received. Was he welcomed, or was he prevented from worshipping God in the place Jewish people believed was the Holiest of Holy places?

He was on his way home when he met Philip. In the first century, when people read scrolls, they read them aloud, even if they were reading by themselves. Philip heard the man reading a scripture from Isaiah and he struck up a conversation with the Ethiopian man. The man invited Philip to sit in his chariot and discuss scripture. Philip took the opportunity to proselytise to the man and tell him the story of JEsus, the story of the Good News. The man wanted to know if anything would prevent him from being baptized right there and then….this was a loaded question. The man’s status as a eunuch created many obstacles for him to practice Judaism. But, Philip saw no issues….baptism is available for all believers. So, Philip baptised the man from Ethiopia. The man carried on with his journey, praising God as he went.

Christianity has a long tradition in Ethiopia. This man, who happened to be a Eunuch, was the first Ethiopian Christian. By the 4th century, the King of Ethiopia converted to Christianity and Christianity was the official religion of the people of Ethiopia for hundreds of years.  Sixty-eight percent of the current residents of Ethiopia are Christians.

The story of the man from Ethiopia is significant for many reasons. The Christian church was in its infancy when he became a Christian. The Christian church was not yet a separate religion from Judaism. But it was evolving. The man from Ethiopia was the first convert who was not from the land of Israel. He was the first African Christian. He was probably the first black Christian. And, he was the first Chrisitan who was obviously a sexual minority.

  

Christianity is available for all people. Young and Old….Rich and Poor…red and yellow and black and white….people from Israel, people from Europe, people from Africa, people from Asia, people from Australia, people from South America, people from North America….people who believed their whole lives and people who had an encounter with the Holy Spirit yesterday….people who are heterosexual and people who are transgendered and people who are lesbians and people who are gay and people who are asexual. 

Some Christians are uncomfortable when they meet Christians who don’t look like them. Some Christians are uncomfortable when they meet Christians who don’t worship like them. Some Christians are uncomfortable when they meet Chrsitans who aren’t the same sexual orientation as them.

But, even if we are uncomfortable, we have to remember we do this because of our faith in God. And God asks us to risk being uncomfortable to do what is right. Practicing Christianity is not always easy or pleasant or comfortable. God asks us to take risks. God asks us to face discomfort. God asks us to be vulnerable because God wants us to work with our fellow Christians to make our world better. 

People who are different, who are perceived as different, are always at risk. The majority is not always kind to minorities. Jesus taught over and over again that it is our work to support and care for people who are different, who are vulnerable.  

 

When Jesus proclaimed his mission on earth, he read a quote from Isaiah, the very scroll the man from Ethiopia was reading. Jesus said: ““The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” We are called to model our actions and our lives on the work of Jesus, to also help the poor, the brokenhearted, the imprisoned, the people who have physical disabilities, and people who are oppressed because of their sexual orientations, their immigration status, their health, their intellectual abilities, or the other things that make them different.

Let us be brave like Philip. Let us not allow anything to stop us from spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. And, let us remember that our faith is for all people….no matter who they are.

Amen. 

Stephen's Witness -- A Message for May 4, 2025

 

Friends, we are in the season between Easter and Pentecost, the season of the church year we call Eastertide. This year, our scriptural focus during this season will be on the birth of the Christian church. On the past two Sundays, we focused on Easter scriptural texts – the story of the women finding an empty tomb and the story of the Disciples walking to Emmaus with a resurrected Jesus, a resurrected Jesus they did not recognize. Today, we are going to skip ahead in the story.  

Before Jesus Ascended to Heaven, he told his disciples and friends it would become their job, their duty, to spread Jesus’ message to others. They would continue his work on earth and share the Good News with the world. And, this is what happened…instead of going quiet, and keeping the message to themselves, the Disciples preached and taught and healed. More and more people began to embrace the message of Christianity for themselves. And, what started out with a group of 12 people became a bigger and bigger group.

When the disciples were with Jesus, they lived together. They kept a common “purse” for all of their expenses. They ate together and lodged together and did everything in pairs. As the group became a bigger and bigger group, sharing everything became complicated. The first portion of Scripture we read this morning is about how the Disciples/Apostles decided to handle the administrative tasks of their calling when things started to become too much for 12 people.

Listen now to the word of God as we read from the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 6:

Scripture Lesson Acts 6:1-7:2a, 44-60 

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 

So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 

Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 

and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 

They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Amen….

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. 

So, after the church became bigger, the logistics became more complicated. And feathers started to be ruffled by people who became upset because they believed the widows from their own cultural background were being neglected in favor of widows from another cultural background. 

It only takes a little bit of time before people start to squabble. We quickly divide ourselves into groups, and pick sides. Instead of everyone focusing on their shared work as Christian Jews, the Hebraic Christans and the Hellenistic Christians started bickering.

The Apostles decided to delegate. They chose seven trustworthy believers to become Deacons. The Apostles focused on what they did best, preaching and praying, and let the Deacons manage the day-to-day running of their growing Christian body. The Deacons made sure widows were receiving their fair share of the food. They settled disputes among believers. They faithfully served on behalf of the community so the Apostles could preach and pray.

The Christian faithful were becoming a bigger and bigger group. They were still part of the Jewish faith, but their sect of Judaism was attracting more followers, and more negative attention from Jewish people who didn’t embrace Jesus and his teachings.

Unfortunately, Stephen, one of the Deacons, was seized and brought before the Sanhedrin. The same fate that befell Jesus when he went before the Sanhedrin befell Stephen. They did not like what he had to say with deadly consequences. Let us prick up the reading as we turn to the Acts of the Apostles in verses eight of chapter six:

8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 

Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. 

But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.

Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”

So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 

They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 

For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”

To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! 

“Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 

After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, 

who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.

But it was Solomon who built a house for him.

“However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:

 

“‘Heaven is my throne,
    and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me?
says the Lord.
    Or where will my resting place be? 

Has not my hand made all these things?’

“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 

Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 

you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”

When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 

“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 

dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 

Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Sermon Stephen’s Witness

Sadly, Stephen was stoned to death. He is remembered as the first Christian Martyr. After his death, the Christian Jewish believers became more and more at risk. The verses that follow our reading, in chapter 8, say, “That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria. Devout men buried Stephen and made lamentation over him.”

Practicing Christianity became dangerous and deadly. The congregations that were growing under the leadership of the Apostles and the Deacons were scattered to the countryside of Judea and Samaria because it was too risky for the believers to remain in Jerusalem. The little squabbles over who was getting more or less food seemed minor when people’s lives were at risk for believing.

When Stephen was put to the test, he didn’t shy away from declaring his faith in the teachings of Jesus Christ. He remained steadfast to the very end. Even when he was being stoned, he told the crowd he could see Jesus waiting for him and standing at the right hand of God. He prayed for Jesus to receive his spirit and to forgive the people who were killing him. Stephen’s faith has been regarded as exemplary and an example for us all to follow.

God was present with Stephen when he was undergoing the worst trial of his life. God was present with the first Christians when their communities faced disagreements. God was present with the first Christains when they swiftly departed Jerusalem to hide out in the countryside after Christans faced arrest and prosecution for their beliefs. No matter what Christians experience, God is present with us.

The early church was made up of people just like us – people who sometimes disagreed with each other…people who sometimes became jealous of each other…people who didn’t always get everything right. But, they worked on it…they worked together to create solutions to improve their communities. When the Apostle’s became overwhelmed by the responsibilities of the Christian community, they appointed faithful people to be Deacons – The word Deacon started out meaning “food servers” – but over the years, the word Deacon evolved to mean both servant and minister. 

Almost two-thousand years after the first Deacons were called by the Apostles, Trinity has both Deacons and Elders serving our church. Like the first Deacons, our Deacons serve communion. They also oversee our congregation and care for the physical and sacred property of the church.  Our Elders have complimentary responsibilities – they also serve communion and supervise the spiritual affairs of our church.  When Trinity was founded, we inspired by the early church to call from within our congregation Spiritual role-models to help lead and inspire our congregation.

Let us continue to put our faith in the God who supports us as a congregation and as individual Christians. God is supports us as we endeavor to serve God and serve each other through the work of the church. Let us be brave like the first Apostles and Deacons – to preach, to pray, and to share the work of the church together. 

Amen.